The Phase Structure of the Speech Act and the Nature of Plans

Abstract

The notion of the phase structure of the speech act—or to be more precise—the special structure of the "inner speech" stage in utterance production, belongs to L. S. Vygotsky. Vygotsky conceptualized the process of speech production, the progress from thought to word to external speech, as follows: "from the motive that engenders a thought, to the formulation of that thought, its mediation by the inner word, and then by the meanings of external words, and finally, by words themselves"¹ Elsewhere he said, "Thought is an internally mediated process. It moves from a vague desire to the mediated formulation of meaning, or rather, not the formulation, but the fulfillment of the thought in the word." And finally, "Thought is not something ready-made that needs to be expressed. Thought strives to fulfill some function or goal. This is achieved by moving from the sensation of a task—through construction of meaning—to the elaboration of the thought itself."²